FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This collection of frequently asked questions (FAQ) provides brief answers to many common questions about the Boomerang platform, installation and implementations. It also provides links to more detailed information available from this web site.

Also see common error messages and troubleshooting page for more information on errors and troubleshooting

Questions and Answers

Q: Why does Boomerang need the SA password?

A: The sa account is only needed to create and configure the database during installation and to provide appropriate access privileges to the Boomerang domain account you entered during installation.

Q: Does Boomerang run under the build in SA account?

A: No. Boomerang runs under the domain account you entered during installation. The SA account is used only during installation, not at run time. The service account is displayed and can be changed from the Admin console.

Q: Where can I change the account which Boomerang Services runs under?

A: In the Boomerang admin console right click on the Machine name and select propterites. Service account and password settings will be found under the tab named “Service Account”. All services needs to be restared for changes to take affect.

Q: Does Boomerang use integrated security?

A: Yes

Q: What permission does the Boomerang service account need?

A: Boomerang Services require domain account with privileges to run NT services, manage printers on the server and full access to the Boomerang database. The account may also require additional permissions, such as access to network folders for the File output service.

Q: I can’t open the Boomerang Admin console (remote or local installation). What is wrong?

A: You must change the security settings on the server to allow remote access to the admin console. See this page for further details.

Q: Do you support SQL Server 2008?

A: Yes

Q: Does Boomerang support development under Windows 7 and .NET 4.0?

A: You can use any development framework you wish and run any workstation OS you like, since you communicate with Boomerang only via the Boomerang database, never direct, Boomerang relies only on the server environment.

Q: How do I set up Boomerang to run a data-driven SSRS report?

A: Creating a data driven subscription is easy with Boomerang. The example on this page illustrates how to create a subscription, store the output on a file share and notify report users with an email message.

Q: Does Boomerang provide a way to avoid the prompt SSRS puts up when a report is exported to a format other than HTML?

A: Yes, all available export formats in SSRS are supported and can be automated by Boomerang.

Q: When starting a service from the Boomerang Admin console the error: “the service did not start due to a logon failure. -StartService returned 8007042Dh in CBoomCmdScm_Start::Execute” appears. What is wrong?

A: The service account specified in the Boomerang Admin Console need to be assigned rights to logon as a service. To correct this add Boomerang service account principal to “Log on as a service” security policy on the server where Boomerang Services are installed.

Q: When running a SSRS report in Boomerang the error: “System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: The path of the item ‘/http://localhost/reportserver/Misc/Sales_by_Region’ is not valid.” is shown in Service Log. What is wrong?

A: The path to the SSRS report should be specified relative to virtual folder of the report server. For example: Assuming reports can be run using this URL: ‘/http://localhost/reportserver/Misc/Sales_by_Region’ the path to the SSRS report should be: ‘Misc/Sales_by_Region’

Q: When running a SSRS report in Boomerang the error “The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized” is shown in the Service Log

A: The SSRS installation may not allow for Windows Authentication which is necessary for the Boomerang service account. Please refer to the following MS article on how to configure Windows Authentication in Reporting Services.

Q: When running a SSRS report in Boomerang the error “This report requires a default or user-defined value for the report parameter ‘my_RS_parameter’. To run or subscribe to this report, you must provide a parameter value.” is shown in the Service Log

A: Values passed to a SSRS multi string parameter need to be in the list of available values. This error may also occur if report parameter values are retrieved at runtime but no data (null) is returned by the query used to retrieve available values.

Q: How to clear the Boomerang Service Log?

A: The service log you see in the Boomerang admin console is the same log you see in the Windows Event Viewer and it can be cleared from there. All Boomerang related log entries will begin with the letters “Boom” in the “Source” column.

Q: Can Boomerang send SMS (Text) Messages?

A: It is not possible to connect Boomerang directly to a GSM (or similar) gateway. We recommend using a SMS gateway service provider. However, using email to SMS services you can send and receive SMS with the standard Boomerang Email Out and Email In functionality.

Q: Can Boomerang Notification Framework be used with SQL Server Express?

A: Yes, but certain SSRS rendering formats does not work. See this page for details.